Kuchisake Shonen: The Slit Mouth Boy
by serina-phantom
Summary: SPIRITSHIPPING! JOHANxJUDAI! A mysterious man wielding a pair of scissors and wearing a surgical mask covering his mouth stalks the night seeking revenge for his disfigurement, until he falls in love with a boy who doesn't know what he really looks like.
1. The Slit Mouth Boy: An Urban Legend

**Title**: Kuchisake-Shonen: The Slit-Mouth Boy

**Genre**: horror, romance, hurt/comfort, drama, supernatural

**Rating**: T+ for language and strong violence

**Pairings**: JohanXJudai

**Summary**: Legend holds that several years ago, a suburban town was terrorized by a man whose beautiful face had been grotesquely disfigured with a Glasgow smile, also known as a Chelsea grin. Roaming the streets wearing a long red ski parka and carrying large scissors, the man would approach his young victims and, while removing the mask, ask if he was pretty. The victim's response, if it were the wrong one, would almost always lead to their violent death. Now, one by one, teenagers and young adults are disappearing again. As teachers and officials desperately begin to investigate, a panic begins to build as the man returns for some unfinished business and the town's dark secrets are exposed. But, the man's dark reign of terror might be over just as soon as it begins when he meets a young man who completely captivates his heart.

Me: All right, everyone! After watching bits and pieces from the Japanese horror film "Carved", Lucy and I wondered, "What would it be like it Judai and Johan were to meet the Slit-Mouth Woman?"

Lucy: But then we wondered, "What is _Judai_ were a Kuchisake spirit?"

Me: And lo—the legend of the Kuchisake-Shonen began! We hope you all enjoy it, this tale of Judai's revenge, and his feelings for a young man who he falls in love with!

_**The Slit-Mouth Boy: An Urban Legend**_

The legend of the Kuchisake-Shonen came many generations after the Kuchisake-Onna. One version of the story says he was a prince in the 1600s who was married to a particurally hateful princess. The prince was very popular with the ladies, and some versions of the story say that he may have cheated on his wife once or twice. The princess, feeling jealous that her husband got more attention with the ladies than she did with the men, attacked him and cut his mouth to his ears, screaming, "No one's gonna think you're so handsome, now!"

Other versions say he was the male lover of a slave trader. Disgusted by the way his lover was treating the slaves, he snuck down into the cages and set them all free. Angry that all the money he would've got for the slaves, the slave trader cut the boy's mouth to his ears as punishment, letting him bleed to death.

But the most common, and most accurate, version of the story goes as such...

His name was Judai Yuki and he was a student at Academia High School. Stories say that he was very attractive and very easy to like, and it was because of this that a horrid fate would befall him.

He didn't do too well in school, and he had a reputation for being a bit strange—but all the girls, smart or ditzy, fell in love with him on sight. The rest of the male student body became extremely jealous of him.

One boy in particular, Setsuko, grew angry as well as jealous when his girlfriend Iris left him to ask Judai out. Not that it mattered, since Judai turned her down for reasons no one knew.

This angered Setsuko further; how dare Judai steal his girlfriend and then turn her down?

Calling Judai aside one day after school, Setsuko attacked him and cut his mouth to his ears, leaving him to die on the ground. As he ran away, he yelled, "Now who's gonna think you're beautiful?"

Hours later, Judai awoke, but he was no longer human. He wandered around the town in agony, trying to hide his deformity from the peering eyes of Domino, Japan. He then came upon a strange boy named Jim, an odd hedge warlock who stitched his bleeding wounds up. Unfortunately, Jim wasn't skilled enough to fix the cuts completely, so Judai still sported vicious scars in the shape of a Cheshire smile. While he weeped, Jim told him that he had been turned into a demon, and then asked if he knew of the Kuchisake-Onna. Judai had heard of her—she was a mysterious spirit who wandered the night with a surgical mask who asked children and teens if she was pretty and then revealed her wounds when they answered. It was then that Jim informed Judai that he had been transformed into a demon, as the Kuchisake-Onna did, and that he would forever be known as the Kuchisake-Shonen. Though he cried when he found out, Judai eventually came to accept this, and contemplated his revenge on the man who'd forced this fate on him—Setsuko.

Weeks later, after mysteriously vanishing, Judai returned to school.

Everyone was pleased to see him, except for Setsuko, of course. _He's **alive**? But how?_

But there was something strange about Judai.

His nose and mouth were covered by a snow-white surgical mask, and his features—his eyes and his body—were sharper and more defined that before, making him seem to be glowing. This lured people to him like never before, even Setsuko's girlfriend Iris once again, who forgot that he had turned her down once upon a time.

After school on that same day, Setsuko dragged Judai to the roof once again, angry and embarrassed.

"How are you still alive?" he shrieked. "You should've bled to death!"

Judai shrugged and shifted his hands like a child. "As well you nearly caused," he said with a tinkling laugh. "But that's all water under the bridge now, my friend. I forgive you. You were just jealous, as you should be."

Setsuko growled. "I see I didn't do my job right. You're still beautiful."

"_Am_ I pretty?" Judai asked, sounding confused.

Whether he answered because of his own conviction or from some strange supernatural conviction that came from Judai's beautfiul new and strange appearance, Setsuko would never know.

"Not pretty," claimed Setsuko, against his better judgment. "Beautiful."

Grinning like a cage himself, Judai tore the mask away, revealing his ruined mouth. "How about now?"

Setsuko opened his mouth to scream, but Judai was too quick. He drew a giant silver pair of scissors and cut Setsuko's mouth up to his ears, like he had done to Judai so many weeks ago. Once the Chelsea grin was firmly settled on Setsuko's face, Judai pushed him off the side of the building, calling down with a laugh, "Who's gonna think _you're_ beautiful?"

They found Setsuko at the bottom of the school later that day, Judai nowhere to be found. Setsuko's mouth was torn into a huge grin, but his eyes stared at the heavens in terror.

Despite getting his revenge on Setsuko, Judai's deformity never went away. The scars were smaller and much less frightening than those of the Kuchisake-Onna, though they were frightening in their own sense, but they never truly left.

And so, Judai Yuki continues to wander to this day as the Kuchisake-Shonen, seeking revenge for his deformity, taking it out on those who answer his question wrong, as Setsuko had so many years ago.

* * *

Me: Wah! Poor Judai! Setsuko deserved what happened to him! NOTE: We will update this as soon as "City of Demeter's Tree" ends, which it will in a little while, as we plan to update it as soon as possible.

Lucy: And for everyone wondering, Johan will appear in Chapter one, which will happen just after the Preface, which is happening after this urban legend!

Me: And the original inspiration of the story, the Kuchisake-Onna, will appear in this story!

Lucy: But is she the villain, or is she an anti-hero?

Me: We're going to tell you all this—the Kuchisake-Onna does try to kill Johan, but will she keep this up, or will she see the light and become someone new instead of a killer?

Lucy: To find out what will happen next, review nicely and we will update!


	2. Preface

**Title**: Kuchisake-Shonen: The Slit-Mouth Boy

**Genre**: horror, romance, hurt/comfort, drama, supernatural

**Rating**: T+ for language and strong violence

**Pairings**: JohanXJudai

**Summary**: Legend holds that several years ago, a suburban town was terrorized by a man whose beautiful face had been grotesquely disfigured with a Glasgow smile, also known as a Chelsea grin. Roaming the streets wearing a long red ski parka and carrying large scissors, the man would approach his young victims and, while removing the mask, ask if he was pretty. The victim's response, if it were the wrong one, would almost always lead to their violent death. Now, one by one, teenagers and young adults are disappearing again. As teachers and officials desperately begin to investigate, a panic begins to build as the man returns for some unfinished business and the town's dark secrets are exposed. But, the man's dark reign of terror might be over just as soon as it begins when he meets a young man who completely captivates his heart.

Me: Hello, everyone!

Lucy: I know we said we would update this as soon as we finished CoDT, but we just couldn't leave this chapter and not add it! The rest will be updated as soon as we finish CoDT, so we'll stick to our word on that!

Me: We hope you enjoy this rather short chapter.

Lucy: Please enjoy!

_**Preface**_

Legend holds that thirty years ago, before we were even born, a suburban town was terrorized by the spirit of a woman whose horrid face had been grotesquely disfigured.

Roaming the streets wearing a long coat and carrying large scissors, the spirit would approach her young victims and, while removing the mask, ask if she was pretty. The victim's response would almost always lead to their violent death.

There was no way to escape her, and no one knows what became of her victims.

* * *

"Or something like that..."

"Oh, stop it, Ichi!" laughed Kio, smacking her boyfriend Ichi lightly on the arm. "You're so bad! That's just a creepy old legend!"

Ichi threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, come on, Kio. It could be the truth," he said.

Kio giggled and walked alongside her boyfriend for over six months. She never knew she could love someone as much as she loved Ichi. At first, she never knew someone like Ichi would be the one for her. But after giving him a chance, Kio found that she could never love anyone as much as she loved Ichi.

Ichi lurched over and hacked.

The sudden noise caused Kio to jump.

She whirled around and stared at her boyfriend. "Oh, Ichi!" She laid her hands on his back. "Ichi, are you all right?"

Ichi waved his hand slightly, still coughing. "I—cough!—am fine—cough! Just—cough—give me a minute." He covered his mouth and continued to cough violently into his hand.

Kio nodded softly and turned away from her boyfriend, hearing him cough violently behind her.

She glanced up as the wind blew, scattering fall leaves through the dusk skies. Her hair brushed around her, black tangles dancing in the air. Her eyes batted softly against her cheeks; her hands wrung themselves together. Ichi's coughs died down gradually behind her, and she felt her heart soar. _Good, he's getting better_.

She wanted to wait until Ichi stopped coughing totally before she turned around. Ichi stopped coughing, but Kio did not turn around. She was too focused on the sky, on the dancing leaves.

She reached up to catch a leaf, but she couldn't touch one.

The wind seemed to be whispering something. Something soft behind her. A voice, calling from the darkness. A chuckle, dark and vicious. A heart as cold as ice beat behind her.

Kio, feeling the sudden rush of cold from behind her, turned.

Her heart skipped when she didn't see Ichi standing behind her. Instead, she spotted a young man, a few years older than she was, wearing a surgical mask and a red ski parka towering over her with frightening brown eyes.

She squeaked and took a step back.

Her system filled with adrenaline, but it only lasted a few seconds. Once she realized she wasn't in any danger, Kio smiled.

"Oh, you scared me!" she laughed.

The brown-haired young man raised a fine brown eyebrow, but said nothing. Kio glanced around and tried to spot Ichi somewhere nearby. The trees were silent, and the only person within miles was the strange brunette in the parka.

"Um, excuse me," Kio asked the boy. "Have you seen a young man with black hair around here?"

The brunette said nothing, but his hand slowly lifted and pointed toward one of the bushes. Kio gave him her cutest smile, thanked him silently, and, figuring that Ichi was just trying to scare her, snuck toward the bushes. She didn't look back to see if the brown-haired man had gone, but she couldn't hear him anymore. Her mind drifted to Ichi. He must've been trying to scare her, and that brown-haired man just wanted to let her know where he was hiding.

"Oh," she said with mock concern. "Wherever could Ichi be?"

As she approached the bushes of the park they'd been walking through, she saw Ichi's arm poking out from a bush.

She smiled. _Caught him_.

Pulling apart the thick green bushes and smiling down at her boyfriend, she started to say, "I found you, Ichi!", but her words stopped short in her throat.

Ichi was smiling, at least, that's what it looked like.

His mouth was cut to his ears in a sloppy grin, and his dull eyes stared at Kio and beyond, full of terror. His stiff body was white as a sheet, his smiling mouth opened as if to scream for help.

Kio was too shocked to scream. She backed up, hands clapped over her mouth, and bumped into someone.

Fear surged through her.

_I should have known... _

"Boku wa kirei?"

Kio turned and saw the brown-haired man standing behind her, holding a pair of silver scissors in his hand. The silver blades were stained with blood, Ichi's blood. His other hand was on the top of the mask, ready to rip it down and reveal the face underneath that Kio knew would be the cause of her death.

Her lips trembled; the boy seemed to grin.

"Careful careful now," he said, his velvety, inviting voice full of amusement. "You don't want to end up like him." He jolted his head toward the dead body of Kio's boyfriend.

"W-why...?" Kio whispered.

The boy with the surgical mask smirked—Kio could tell by the way his eyes crinkled—and reached up, hooking his pale fingers over the top of the mask. He started to draw it down, and Kio could see the tops of the scars leading to his ears appear. She shivered. They were even more horrid than she could have ever imagined. His brown eyes were sparkling with sick pleasure, his whole body giving off the cold scent of demons, his whole being turning the sky to cold. He raised the scissors into the sky and aimed them down toward Kio.

"He answered wrong."

* * *

When the sun rose the next morning, two bodies would be found; both sporting Glasgow smiles tearing from the corners of their mouth to their ears.

Both would be reaching for salvation, looking beyond their killer, who was now long gone, back to wherever it was demons went when they were finished with a good kill.

Two more victims would be added to the Kuchisake family.

* * *

Me: Well, we got a short idea of what Judai looks like now and what he does! But do not feel too bad for Kio and Ichi—you will learn much more on them later on in the story, and you will not feel bad for them!

Lucy: And Johan will appear in the next chapter!

Me: So, for all of you wondering when he will show up, next chapter! He'll be here! So you can all look forward to that as soon as we update this little fic of ours!

Lucy: Please review!


	3. The SlitMouth's Best Friend

**Title**: Kuchisake-Shonen: The Slit-Mouth Boy

**Genre**: horror, romance, hurt/comfort, drama, supernatural

**Rating**: T+ for language and strong violence

**Pairings**: JohanXJudai

**Summary**: Legend holds that several years ago, a suburban town was terrorized by a man whose beautiful face had been grotesquely disfigured with a Glasgow smile, also known as a Chelsea grin. Roaming the streets wearing a long red ski parka and carrying large scissors, the man would approach his young victims and, while removing the mask, ask if he was pretty. The victim's response, if it were the wrong one, would almost always lead to their violent death. Now, one by one, teenagers and young adults are disappearing again. As teachers and officials desperately begin to investigate, a panic begins to build as the man returns for some unfinished business and the town's dark secrets are exposed. But, the man's dark reign of terror might be over just as soon as it begins when he meets a young man who completely captivates his heart.

Me: All right, everyone!

Lucy: Chapter one, and the official start of the Kuchisake-Shonen story, is finally updated and ready to be read!

Me: We hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Lucy: Please enjoy!

_**Chapter One: The Slit-Mouth's Best Friend**_

Judai Yuki trudged through eternity, never aging, never moving a step from the one sliver of time he had been given. Today, he used that immortal sliver of time to walk through the park, eyes gliding over the playing children. They did not have a reason to fear him, as he wasn't carrying his scissors in his hand. They were a soul weapon; easily retracted into the body when they weren't useful. It made it so much easier to move around amongst the unknowing humans he wasn't hunting.

"Geez. I don't even know why I got into this stupid business in the first place." Judai closed his eyes; his senses guided him so he didn't crash.

For as long as he could remember, he'd been a Kuchisake.

Of course, he had memories of his life as a human, but they were fuzzy and hard to read. The one memory he had that was as clear as his ones as a Kuchisake was Setsuko's face just before he cut Judai apart with his infamous switchblade. His hideous face; round pale cheeks, beady black eyes, long dark green hair tied in a red ribbon. Judai could still remember, in his last moments as a human, when Setsuko screamed, "Who'll think you're beautiful now?" The pain was a memory, but it hurt. Judai reached up and touched the surgical mask covering his mouth. He could feel the bumps of his scars just underneath his fingertips.

_The scars are healed, the cuts are gone_, he thought. _But they still...hurt_.

His brown eyes burned. He immediately turned away from the eyes of the humans around him. He didn't want them to see him crying.

As a Kuchisake, Judai was supposed to refrain from speaking to humans who he was not hunting. If he spoke to a human at all, it was because he had plans to cut them apart. "_This job is not a social experience! We are monsters; get it through your head_!" Taeko had told him that a long time ago...He couldn't forget it even if he wanted to. Taeko's face, so much like his own, hidden from the world, flashed through his mind. But that image was instantly replaced with an image of Setsuko, so set in his ways. Judai had other images of Setsuko, memories of right after he had become a Kuchisake, but that memory of him as he cut Judai's mouth open would stick with the yokai for as long as he lived. (Being immortal had its downsides, too.) Anger boiled inside him at the recollection of Setsuko, the one who'd ruined his life.

_Damn him, damn him, damn him!_ Judai thought. He bit down on his lip, trying to keep himself calm. Otherwise, he might lose control, and...

"God, I gotta find a new hobby," he complained, slumping down on one of the abandoned park benches.

Looking up, he watched the humans swirl around him. Near the lake, a boy and a girl (brother and sister, maybe?) played tag with one another. Walking down the path by him jogged a middle-aged couple, talking and laughing with each other at a joke the husband had made. Two teenage boys tried to pick-pocket an old lady, but she caught them and beat them both over the head with her cane. A twenty-one year old pregnant woman about eight months along took a seat on a bench a few meters away from Judai, no doubt on-guard because of his surgical mask and inhumanly bright amber eyes.

_I don't care what she thinks_, Judai thought; the feeling of not-caring didn't last long.

In reality, Judai would have killed (not literally, of course) to have a human think kindly of him and accept him for what he was. But he knew they never would.

_I'm a killer_. He drew his knees up under his chin and hugged them, hiding his face from the humans. Not that they ever bothered to stop and ask how he was or anything. _No human in the world would accept me for what I was. I'll never have any human friends. I can always talk to Jim (though he's such a pain in the ass, I prefer not to), but he's a demon, so he doesn't count. And there's no way in Hell Taeko would listen to my problems without going off on a lecture about how evil humans are. And besides...she's a Kuchisake, too, so she doesn't count, either. Oh, well. It doesn't matter. My human life was over the moment I refused to die after Setsuko cut me. I brought this on myself._ Judai buried his head in his arms and exhaled; he hated being a yokai sometimes.

"Um, excuse me?"

Judai's head snapped up as if on a reflex; the voice had been close—right in front of him, to be exact.

Near the park bench, looking down at him, was a boy who looked to be about college age. Judai's mouth hung open under the surgical mask. _God, he's cute!_ The boy had spiked blue hair and bright emerald green eyes, and was dressed up in a blue jacket and black jeans because of the cool weather the Falls in Japan brought. He had a bookbag slung over his shoulder, and he held two cups of coffee in his hands. He was smiling at Judai as if he'd known him for a long time. _Of course he is_, Judai thought sadly, _because he thinks I'm _human.

"Who the hell are you?" Judai hissed.

His eyes flashed; he tried pulsing his power to threaten the boy away. As much as he wanted a human friend, he didn't want one if they didn't accept him for what he was. Yet, as much as he tried to pulse his power to make the air around him threatening, the boy before him still didn't seem afraid.

"I know it's probably not any of my business, but you looked kind of down, so I wanted to come by and see what was bothering you," said the boy. "Can I sit down here?"

Judai stared at him with his harsh amber eyes, hoping to intimidate him and frighten him off before he grew too attached to him. The boy didn't leave; just kept smiling like a moron. _Dammit all_. "_Sigh_. I don't care _what_ you do," Judai murmured, scooting over so the boy could sit down.

"Yay," grinned the bluenette, flopping down beside Judai.

The moment he sat down, Judai felt something. A warm breeze that came from nowhere tickled his nose; Judai reconized the scent, yet didn't know how. He turned and looked at the college boy beside him, who kept on smiling that angelic smile. _Is it because of him?_ Judai wondered. He inhaled through his nose—the scent was incredible. He couldn't place a name to it. _It's been a long time since I was around any pure-hearted human for a long time_, he realized. _That's what this scent is._

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Judai jumped; the boy had spoken so suddenly, he wasn't prepared for it. "God, that was rude of me; I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Johan Andersen. What's yours?"

Judai hesitated. The one sliver of humanity he had left told him to be polite and tell Johan his name; the other half, the Kuchisake half, screamed, "Are you a fucking moron, Judai Yuki? You're a Kuchisake! You only go by that name according to humans!"

In this argument about being polite while not "on-duty", the human-sliver won yet again.

**Human Sliver**: 5,067 victories

**Kuchisake Half**: 126 victories

"Yuki," said Judai slowly and gently. "Judai Yuki."

"I like that name," said Johan with a big grin. "It's kind of catchy."

Judai smiled softly underneath the surgical mask. "Yours isn't half bad, either. You from out of Japan?"

"Europe," Johan smiled. "I hail from Denmark, but I came here to attend a college I really like. I'm studying to become a psychologist. What about you? You have to be about the same age as me, right? What college are you going to?"

The soft smile faded into a sad, light frown. Judai turned his head away. "Can't go to college," he said gently. _I "died" before I finished high-school. I never graduated._ "I...never finished high school, you see? So I can't go to any college to be anything."

"What? Never finished high school?" Johan sounded...genuinely concerned. "Why?"

Again, that sad frown appeared—Judai was glad Johan couldn't see underneath his surgical mask. "Something...happened. Something really bad. I got hurt really bad, and I just...couldn't bring myself to ever go back there again." _It's not a lie_, he realized with a faint smile.

Johan didn't seem convinced with that answer. "Why didn't you go to another high school?"

"You're going to be a psychologist, right?" Judai asked. Johan nodded. "Ever hear of generalization?" Again, Johan nodded, swelling with pride that he knew what Judai was talking about. "Well, after my accident, I assumed that all high schools would be the same way, so I never went back to any. And besides, I don't need college because I have no future." _I'm not lying to him. I really don't have a future. I am forever stuck in this sliver of time, never moving forward, and unable to move back_.

Now that he truly admitted it to himself after sitting near someone who did have a future, he realized just how sad and worthless his whole existence was.

"That can't be true," Johan murmured. "Everyone has a future.

_Everyone who's_ alive. "Not me, kid," murmured Judai. "Everyone except me...and _her_."

Johan cocked his head to the side, perking up slightly. "Her?"

"It's no one."

"Oh." Johan lowered himself back onto the bench. He was sad, filled with pity for Judai. What kind of person claimed to have no future? As Johan stared at Judai, the more he felt something off about him. The air seemed to bend and twist all around him, and his eyes were so inhumanly bright that they seemed to glow with the light of the sun behind two brown lenses. The surgical mask covered something; a hidden secret from the world. A part of Johan would have given anything to learn it, to give Judai the help he needed to make something out of his future.

But another part of him wanted to run.

That part of him, the part he hated the most, could feel something dangerous swelling under the flesh of the one called Judai Yuki. Something bubbled and coiled like a cobra underneath his surgical mask, lying in wait until Johan did or said a certain thing that would seal his own fate.

Johan was startled by a loud beeping from his wrist. "Oh, geez!" He jumped up. "I'm going to be late for night class!"

He spun around; Judai caught his wrist. Electricity seemed to burn between Judai's cold flesh and Johan's. He shivered. Something was different and wrong about Judai, yet at the same time... At the same time, Johan felt a power inside him, a strange warmth that no one else in the world possessed. The light dancing behind his amber eyes, the mystery lurking behind his mask: Johan knew that two things awaited Judai's future. Incredible happiness or everlasting, evil torment. He didn't know how he knew, but he did.

Judai gently released his wrist. "I...usually come here every day around three," he murmured. Embarrassed, he turned his face away. "You have school before that, so why not come visit sometime?"

Johan smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow then, after classes."

Flashing Judai a peaceful look, he vanished into the crowd of people with his coffee cup. Judai watched until he vanished totally out of sight, and then his eyes flickered to the sky. A sort of warmth he hadn't felt since he was human, the kind of warmth the dead never forgot, swelled in the recesses of his chest. Above him, the sky darkened as night started to fall. The sun set, the sky turning milky pink and hellfire orange. People in the park were starting to vanish, and when Judai was all alone, he heard grunting and crying in the distance. He summoned his silver scissors to hand, flicked them open, and grinning behind the surgical mask so wide that it nearly tore the skin of his scars open again, he said in a tone he knew so well:

"It's time."

* * *

"You bitch!"

_SMACK!_

"Ow! P-please! Stop this."

"Cheat on me, will you?"

_SLAP!_

"Ah! P-please! I wasn't cheating. H-he was asking for directions."

"Liar!"

_SMACK!_

Thirty-four year old Takana Mariko winced as her boyfriend's hard fist drilled into her skull once again. Her teeth rattled against the force; she whimpered.

For as long as she could remember, her relationship had been like this. Every time Enri saw her so much as look in the direction of another man, he would beat her senseless. She always begged him to stop, claimed it wasn't her fault, and it never was. But Enri wouldn't ever listen to reason. Sometimes, Takana begged God to destroy him, to send Enri to Hell. She even tried the Hell Girl website, but that was just an anime. It wasn't real. So she suffered through eternity with Enri beating her, knowing that she would never escape him.

Enri paused suddenly in mid-shout, exhaling with a dry puff of air; Tanaka opened her blackened eyes and looked up.

The young teenager with the red ski parka and white surgical mask stood close by, saying nothing and doing nothing. His eyes, glowing with an inhuman light, stared right through Enri. He danced soundlessly forward, and when he was mere inches from Enri's face, said, "Excuse me, sir, but may I ask you a question?"

"Beat it!" Enri bellowed.

He swung at the boy...and gasped.

He was gone.

The boy appeared behind him between one eyeblink and the next. "Please, sir," he said, his tone as alluring and venomous as a snake. "It won't take long at all."

Enri drew back, sweat running down his forehead."S-sure." He backed up a step, trying to get away from the boy's intimidating gaze.

The boy's eyes crinkled; he was smiling. "Oh, thank you, sir. It will only take a second." He reached his hand into his pocket, fishing around for something. Enri ignored the cold wave of wind that blew over him. The masked boy's strange eyes seemed to peer inside him, see everything he wanted to keep hidden.

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

Enri blinked. It wasn't every day that a boy asked Enri if he thought he was pretty. He took a brief second to study the boy's face. He had sharp, prominent features. His eyes were shimmery and lovely, his cheekbones high and defined. It paled in comparison to his hair, although. His chocolate brown locks fell long in the front, short and spiked in the back, and shone in the moonlight. He would have looked much better, however, if he wasn't wearing that mask. Enri found himself wondering what caused this boy to cover himself. "Yes," he decided with a brief nod. "Yes, you're pretty."

His strange eyes crinkled again, but he didn't speak.

He slowly hooked his index and middle fingers on his left hand to the top of the mask.

Enri felt his heart quicken. Takana glanced over his shoulder and tried to see what was going on. Her muscles burned in agony, and she contemplated running while Enri was distracted. He wouldn't really beat her if there were someone watching, would he? Part of her doubted it. Her bruised legs shifted back. Enri didn't notice. The boy's glimmering eyes seemed to hold him steady. Suddenly, Enri wasn't so sure that he wanted to know what was underneath the boy's surgical mask. Part of him felt as if he should run. The other part felt as if he should sink to his knees and beg forgiveness. He didn't know why he felt this way. What was this boy, to make someone feel so afraid that they would do anything in the world to keep themselves alive?

For a moment, Enri was aware of the cold wind.

Then he heard a voice that rumbled through him, like a mighty blue ocean wave crashing over the sands of the whitest beaches. Male and female, animal and human, demon and angel, a composite of every single voice he'd ever heard since the moment of his birth.

The Devil's voice.

"_**How about now**_**?**"

The boy ripped the mask away; Enri screamed, despite himself. His face was ruined. Vicious tears started at the edges of his mouth, one side tearing up while the other went downward in a frown. They were hideous scars, hardened like the crust of bloody bread. The blaze of the boy's eyes seemed to illuminate the horror of the Boy's destroyed mouth.

_The Slit-Mouth Boy...How could I not have known_?

He turned to run—but his attempts were in vain. The Slit-Mouth Boy was already in front of him. He struck the abuser down with the heel of his palm; a forceful blow that sent Enri down gasping. In the Boy's hand were a giant pair of scissors, a pair of gardener's shears smeared with garnet blood. The Slit-Mouth Boy gave him a moment to stand, studying him like a cat studies its prey. Enri stood up, keeping his eyes on the evil Boy. The Kuchisake-Shonen opened his mouth—the cuts stretched to the point where Enri felt they would open, too—and laughed. Blood spilled from the insides of his wounds and coated his tongue in a thick sheet of hot metallic liquid. Enri bit his lip against the wave of bile, knowing that if he threw up, he'd give the Boy an edge.

"**_What's wrong?_**" the Boy advanced forward. His Devil's voice was raspy and crackled, like an elderly man instead of the teenager he pretended to be. Enri found himself, briefly, wondering just how old the Kuchisake-Shonen was.

Enri struggled to step back.

"_**You're not nearly as much fun as I thought you'd be**_." The Kuchisake-Shonen clacked his teeth together; they became coated in blood.

Despite being cornered by a vicious creature intent on taking his soul, Enri found himself bristling with anger. "And just what do you know about me?" The Kuchisake-Shonen's eyebrow rose slightly. "You don't know a damn thing about me!"

"_**Oh**_**?**" The Kuchisake-Shonen moved forward slowly, swinging his scissors gently at his side. "_**I know that your father use to beat your mother severely every night. I know that he use to beat you every single morning when you spoke back to him. I know that you met Miss Takana here**_"—He jerked his head toward the young woman, who trembled in her spot behind him (the Kuchisake-Shonen had somehow moved Enri to the point where he was no longer right in front of Takana, but she was in front of him)—"_**in college, and that you've been dating for three months. I know that you're controlling the relationship and that Miss Takana here would rather see you dead than continue dating you, but she's too afraid to fight back. I know that every night, she prays and prays for something to happen to you, for someone to hurt you so bad that you can never move again. So that you can never, ever, hurt her again**_."

He stopped, inches from Enri's face.

"_**Now, I ask you again. How about now? Am I pretty**_**?**"

Enri looked at the scissors, back at the Boy, then shook his head slowly, pleading, "No..."

The Boy's cuts tore back in a wolfish smile; he laughed. "_**Wrong answer**_."

He slashed, once, twice. Enri fell to the ground, his mouth torn apart in the same marks at the Boy, blood pouring down his neck. His skin, pale and lifeless, bulged with blue veins. The Boy spat on Enri's body and removed his surgical mask from his pocket. He settled it swiftly on his face without another word. Then he turned slowly to Takana, who shivered and cowered behind him. "You," he said, his voice back to normal. She looked, against her will. "Your revenge has been sought. He'll never strike you again."

Then he turned his back on her and vanished into the night.

* * *

The next morning, authorities found Enri's corpse in the park.

Takana babbled over the body like a madwoman, clenching clumps of hair in her hands so hard her scalp bled.

When the cops lifted her up off the filthy ground and placed her onto the stretcher beside Enri's body bag, she kept staring straight into space, frothy spit and foam forming around her lips, tear streaming from wide eyes, muttering a single phrase over and over again.

_Slit-Mouth Boy. Slit-Mouth Boy. Slit-Mouth Boy_...

* * *

Me: So Judai has met Johan and has killed another abuser.

Lucy: So, in a way, he's one of the good guys. He hates people who are abusive, mostly due to the fact that he was killed by Setsuko, and he'll do anything to see them dead.

Me: But what of Johan's fate? Shall he ever find out that his dear new friend is a killer?

Lucy: Please review!


	4. Spending Time With a SlitMouth

**Title**: Kuchisake-Shonen: The Slit-Mouth Boy

**Genre**: horror, romance, hurt/comfort, drama, supernatural

**Rating**: T+ for language and strong violence

**Pairings**: JohanXJudai

**Summary**: Legend holds that several years ago, a suburban town was terrorized by a man whose beautiful face had been grotesquely disfigured with a Glasgow smile, also known as a Chelsea grin. Roaming the streets wearing a long red ski parka and carrying large scissors, the man would approach his young victims and, while removing the mask, ask if he was pretty. The victim's response, if it were the wrong one, would almost always lead to their violent death. Now, one by one, teenagers and young adults are disappearing again. As teachers and officials desperately begin to investigate, a panic begins to build as the man returns for some unfinished business and the town's dark secrets are exposed. But, the man's dark reign of terror might be over just as soon as it begins when he meets a young man who completely captivates his heart.

Me: All right, everyone! Chapter two of _Kuchisake-Shonen: The Slit-Mouth Boy_ is finally up!

Lucy: In the last chapter, Johan met Judai, and he doesn't know that Judai is the Slit-Mouth Boy. And afterward, Judai killed an abusive boyfriend named Enri, who was beating his girlfriend Takana.

Me: What is going to happen in the next chapter?

Lucy: Please enjoy!

_**Chapter Two: Spending Time With a Slit-Mouth**_

_The Boy's eyes glitter like damaged stars, blazing with hatred and feral hunger. The Boy is a predator, strong and lethal, beautiful and powerful as a panther. In his hand he holds a long pair of scissors, thin and painted with blood. Across his nose rests a snowy white surgical mask, and underneath—underneath is a secret he will never show the world. A secret so powerful, it would destroy the earth. The Boy turns his head, hair whipping like a sword behind him. And as he raises his arms to swing his scissors_—

"His arm looks like a fish," Johan said, interrupting his train of thought.

Irritated, he turned his pencil around and scraped the paper with the eraser, washing away the arm of his drawing. Why he was even sketching this, he didn't know. A tall boy with a surgical mask holding a giant pair of scissors.

Now that he really thought about it, Johan had been working on this particular picture all through the past three classes. Several of his classmates had seen it, and they all agreed on one thing: the picture was completely and utterly horrifying.

_They're just being babies_, Johan told himself.

The picture wasn't that creepy, at least not the body. The eyes were the most frightening part about the picture. They were so alive. So wicked.

Johan couldn't get Judai out of his mind. He'd only known the other boy for, what, ten minutes? And even so, he felt a strange sort of connection between the two of them. Almost as if they'd been fated to meet.

His mask was frightening, even if he was kind. It made his eyes stand out like two stars.

Johan had to wonder what Judai kept under that mask. Perhaps he had been in an accident and was horribly disfigured. Or maybe he was born with a cleft palate and didn't want anyone to see it. Johan, honestly, didn't care what Judai looked like. He was a kind, simple boy. He seemed like he could charm any person in the world, make a friend with anyone he chose.

Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was...different about Judai.

"Hey, Andersen," said Junko Marika, who sat three seats to his right. She leaned across the empty desks between them, snapping her gum. "Do you, like, have a pencil I could borrow?"

Johan couldn't say that he liked Junko a lot, but he was polite and said, "Yeah."

He dug through his book bag until he found a mechanical pencil. He handed it to Junko, who took it without so much as a passing glance, let alone a 'thank you'. It got on Johan's nerves, but he tried to focus on his drawing.

_Why am I drawing this?_ he wondered. The night before, he had a strange dream. In the dream, Johan was in the middle of an alley. And on the other end of the alley was Judai. He carried a pair of scissors coated in blood. His surgical mask was white as snow. And in the dark moonlight, as he turned to look at Johan with his amber-bright eyes, a dark maw peeked out from under the mask. Judai whispered, "_Johan. Boku was kirei?_" When Johan didn't answer, Judai reached up for his mask and shouted, "Kore demo?" Then he ripped away the mask—and then Johan woke up, panting and covered in sweat, his heart beating like a jackhammer in his ribcage.

The door to the classroom opened, and Professor Cronos walked in. Unlike the other times, he was carrying a newspaper under his arm. His hair was unkempt and very messy, and he wasn't wearing his make-up. Not that Johan minded—the old man looked just creepy with his mascara, lipstick, and eyeshadow—but it gave him the feeling that something just wasn't right.

"Good morning, class," said the professor. "Unfortunately, I have bad news. We won't be talking about psychology today. One of our students, Takana Mariko, has been hospitalized."

Loud murmurs and questions rose from the class. Professor Cronos lifted his hand and called for silence. It took a few minutes, but when everyone stopped talking, Professor Cronos closed his eyes and said, "If you have questions, I brought this newspaper article. It covers everything you want to know." He set a transparent version of the newspaper on the overhead projector and clicked the button. It took a minute, and on the whiteboard above the professor's head, the newspaper appeared, blown-up and easily seen.

The newspaper clipping read:

_SLIT-MOUTH BOY STRIKES AGAIN!_

_Last evening, Takana Mariko was found trembling in the park next to the massacred corpse of her boyfriend, Ubawara Enri. Miss Takana is currently in Domino Hospital, where she is kept under constant watch in the ICU. In a state of shock, she is only able to utter the phrase, "Slit-Mouth Boy... Slit-Mouth Boy!" No people were found near the scene of the crime, and the destruction on Ubawara Enri's body match the injuries of the other victims of the Slit-Mouth Boy. Police have no suspects as of now, leading some to believe that this serial killer may be more than just a crazed man. Is it possible that the Slit-Mouth Boy is indeed real? If so, how will we defend ourselves? "We should keep our children in after dark," says Chief Inspector Ryugi Otogi. "All teenagers should go immediately home after school, and parents are advised to pick up their children." Whoever—or whatever—this serial killer is, police have sworn to hunt him down and lock him in prison before another victim can be found._

The screen clicked off. Professor Cronos stood at the front of the class, lips pursed and pale. "So," he said after a moment of silence. "You all know what you must do, yes?"

"Go home after class?" answered one of the students.

"Yes," nodded Professor Cronos. "And don't talk to any strangers you meet."

"Why?" snorted one of the students in the far back. "This is just some silly urban legend, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Professor Cronos said, tapping his fingers on the desk. "It is an urban legend. The Slit-Mouth Boy is a legend mirrored off the legend of the Slit-Mouth Woman, or _Kuchisake-Onna_. LIke that legend, there are many different versions on what happened. Some say the _Kuchisake-Shonen_, the Slit-Mouth Boy, was from the same time period as the Woman. Others claim he's much older. But some others say he is very young compared to her. Either way, we don't know if he's real or not. What we do know is that someone has taken the legend and has been murdering people in its fashion. And I'd rather not have my students end up in a body bag."

A girl whispered, "What if it's not an urban legend?"

Professor Cronos heard her and answered, "If that's the truth, then he won't be stopped. All we can hope is that he is just that—a killer basing himself off the legend."

Johan glanced down at his drawing. The surgical mask, the blazing eyes, the scissors—how could he have not known? The boy he'd been drawing for the past few hours couldn't be anyone other than the Slit-Mouth Boy from the urban legends.

Beside him, Junko chewed on the eraser of his mechanical pencil.

Down below, the professor continued to ramble on about urban legends and the supposed serial killer. Meanwhile, Johan stared down at his drawing in horror. The man in the picture was none other than Judai Yuki, but it was also the Slit-Mouth Boy. But that couldn't be. Johan shook his head and closed his eyes. This is not possible, he thought. Judai's not the Slit-Mouth Boy. It's just a coincidence.

In the back of his mind, he wasn't so sure.

* * *

After classes, Johan went to the park.

It didn't take long to get there, but when he arrived at the bench he found Judai at yesterday, the brunette wasn't there.

A little saddened, Johan sat down on the park bench. Two women walked by, swinging shopping bags and chattering amongst themselves. A man in his eighties on the other bench read the newspaper. Johan looked away when he saw all the headlines about the Slit-Mouth Boy. He didn't want to think about the Boy, the one who was either a crazed serial killer, or a ghostly assailant. Johan kept his eyes closed tight.

When he opened them, another woman walked by. She was tall, with stringy black hair and silver eyes. Like Judai, she wore a surgical mask. Despite the warm air, she bundled herself up in a brown trench coat and a pleated skirt. Her high heels clacked against the pavement as she stalked by. Her movements were graceful and beautiful, yet her eyes were harsh and terrible. The woman glanced at Johan out the corner of her eyes, and they seemed to narrow. Johan found it easy to believe that the woman, whoever she was, was scowling at him under her mask.

Before he could ask her who she was, she walked briskly down the path and vanished.

Johan huffed and folded his arms across his chest. His eyelids felt heavy. He didn't want to fall asleep, but it was so peaceful here, with the scents and the sounds and the warm air, that he found his eyelids drooping...

"Johan?" A hand touched his arm.

He jumped as if someone had electrocuted him. He was both surprised and relieved to see Judai sitting on the bench beside him, wearing the same exact thing he'd been wearing the day before: red ski parka (despite the heat), white jeans, red boots, and of course, the snow-white surgical mask. His eyes glittered in the sun, and he appeared to be in good spirits. "Hey," he said. "Sorry I was late. I had some things to check up on." He patted Johan gently on the shoulder, as if he feared hurting him.

"It's all right," Johan said, trying to hide his relieved smile. "I thought you weren't coming today."

"Truth be told, I almost didn't," Judai admitted.

Johan blinked, confused. "Why?"

"Nervous," was Judai's casual reply. "You know, with the Slit-Mouth Boy on the loose, one can never be too careful." He stretched his arms above his head and made a loud noise that Johan recognized: a yawn. His surgical mask stretched until Johan could see just the tip of his chin. Then he fixed it and turned to Johan, his eyes crinkling as if he were smiling.

"Speaking of which," Johan murmured, "the girl who got hospitalized last night was one of my classmates."

Judai's eyes widened to a size Johan found incredibly frightening. His eyes then narrowed, and he murmured, "So, now he's after college students, hm? Wow, that's a new low." Then he patted Johan's knee and said, "I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine." Johan shrugged. "It's sad and all, but I didn't really know her all the much."

"So, nothing really lost?" Judai asked.

"No," Johan said. "At least, not for me." Then he turned his attention to Judai and asked, "What do you know about the Slit-Mouth Boy?"

To his surprise, Judai looked sort of pissed. His eyes darkened, and his surgical mask crinkled up. "Not much," he said, and his tone was a bit forced. "All I know is that he's modeled after the Kuchisake-Onna, Slit-Mouth Woman, and he does what she does—cuts people's mouth up when they don't answer her questions. I only know the urban myths, though. Nothing more."

Judai turned his gaze to the spot where the woman who'd glared at Johan had walked by. "It's still a shame that people have to go through that." Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, "But maybe those people the Slit-Mouth Boy kills have it coming."

"No one deserves to die," Johan said.

Judai lowered his head and whispered, "Some do."

Then he touched his fingers to his surgical mask and looked away.

In that moment, Johan realized what happened. Someone had hurt Judai. That's what he was hiding. The scars of a vicious attack. Someone—though Johan knew not who—had attacked Judai and disfigured him.

Johan reached his hand out to Judai's mask. Judai reeled away from his touch. "What are you doing?"

"Please," Johan asked. "What are you hiding under that?"

Judai shook his head. "No. I'm sorry."

Surprisingly, Johan didn't push it after that. He talked to Judai about his classes, since Judai kept asking about them. They wandered around the park, talking and laughing and sharing jokes. At some moments, Judai would tense and glance around, but there was never any direct target. And late at night, Johan would depart for night classes, and Judai would disappear, after taking Johan out for a coffee.

Over the course of the next few weeks, this was their daily routine. They learned almost everything about each other, except Judai never really talked about himself too much. He asked Johan question after question, and let him do most of the talking. It was strange, but Johan lived with it. One day, though he knew not when, and somehow, though he knew now how, he'd find out what happened to Judai, and what he looked like underneath that surgical mask. It was a mission, and he was determined to complete it.

* * *

Me: All right! So Johan has continued to hang out with Judai, but he senses something very wrong.

Lucy: And while we know that Judai is the Slit-Mouth Boy, Johan doesnt know. Although he seems to be catching on rather quickly. And who was that creepy woman who was glaring at Johan in the park?

Me: All this and more when we return!

Lucy: Please review!


End file.
